


All the Colors of the Rainbow

by MelyndaR



Series: My Ingenious Family series [14]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 11:58:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 3,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3119366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The stork is working over-time at the BAU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In case it's not clear, this chapter is Leah's POV in a scene that takes place before "Innocence."

December 17, 2011

Triangle, Virginia

Leah Prentiss paced undecidedly back and forth in the small apartment she had rented only two days ago. She held her cellphone in her hand, jiggling it. Her hand was shaking so badly that she knew she wouldn't be able to catch it if she tossed it into the air.

 _Breathe, Leah. It's just a phone call. Dial the number, say hi, and introduce yourself-_  "Yeah," Leah interrupted her own thoughts. "As what, your long-lost daughter?"

She took a deep breath anyway. It couldn't hurt.

Her eyes fell to the article she was typing on her computer for a children's magazine. Not her usual genre, but it gave her a break from the usual gore and suspense of her mystery novels. Entitled "Elisabetta's Arcobaleno", or Elisabetta's Rainbow, it was her last publication she intended to have published in Rome. She was in the States now, and if everything went as she hoped, she would soon meet her mother, Emily.

But first she had to calm down. She went over and sat down before the computer, intending to pour her emotions and troubles into her writing, as she always did, but the words just wouldn't come. She sat there for a moment longer, thinking, before she took out a piece of paper and decided to do the activity for herself that she had Elisabetta do in the article.

She took a pencil, she never wrote with a pen if she could help it, and drew a rainbow that she could color in and then, after retreiving the required seven colored pencils, did just that. The next part was harder, write the things that made her life complete, one for each stripe. She picked up her graphite pencil and stared at the red line of the rainbow for a millisecond before writing in "writing". She put in other things on the orange and yellow lines, but stopped at the green one.

Green had always been her favorite color, and she wanted to save that line for something special. She filled in the two blue lines, but she could think of nothing else. The whole affair had had the desired effect though. She had calmed down.

Taking one more deep breath, she picked up her cell phone and dialed her mother's number before she could think about it. She was relieved when it went to voicemail.

She licked her lips before beginning nervously, "Emily Prentiss? My name is Leah – Leah Prentiss..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case this isn't clear, this chapter is Leah's POV before the last chapter of "Twelve."

January 1, 2012

Alexandria, Virginia

"Hey, Leah?" Spencer Reid came around the corner, holding up a piece of paper.

Leah turned to face her husband of less than twenty-four hours. "Yeah?"

"What's this?" He held up the paper she had put on her refrigerator.

"Oh," Leah looked at the rainbow picture. "It's a project I did a couple of weeks ago to calm my nerves."

"Okay. I'd just wondered."

An idea struck Leah. "Here, let me see it."

She took it when he handed it to her and then she dug around for a pencil. She stared at the green line for a moment, before she moved down to the last, the purple one, and wrote "my job". Then she put it back up on the refrigerator and headed into the living room.

Spencer looked up from putting some of his books in her bookshelf and asked, "Are you ready for lunch yet?"

"Sure."

"Is everything all right?"

Leah took a deep breath and decided to tell him her thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place in the middle of "Confirmation."

March 2, 2012

Alexandria, Virginia

"Here, let me take that." Spencer offered to take her go-bag as the couple headed up the walkway towards their house.

Leah handed it to him without protest. Contrary to what her surrogate father had believed, she had been none too thrilled to find herself in New Haven again. She was dog-tired.

But she was happy.

She was back home with her marvelous husband, and she free to act as if he were her husband. She was free to tell Spencer about every little move that all of their septuplets made inside of her. She didn't have to hide any of it here, like she did from the team.

Once inside, she headed straight for the refrigerator. She was tired, yes, but she was also starving. She commandeered a bowl of left-over pasta and slumped into a chair at the table to eat it, staring mindlessly at the refrigerator door while she did so.

She focused her eyes w=once she started feeling cross-eyed. They landed on her rainbow drawing. Leah stared hard at that middle line, green, her favorite.

There was something about the color green in a rainbow, and, though the drawing didn't do it justice, Leah was saving that line for something extra-special, but what? She continued staring at it and thought about it the whole time she ate. She got up when she was finished and put her dishes in the dishwasher.

Turning back around, the perfect thing came to her. She picked up a pencil and wrote in a decisive hand, "my family."


	4. Chapter 4

August 8, 2012

Spencer reclined in the jet on the way back from a case. He had just closed his eyes, prepared to take a powernap, when his cellphone rang. The lyrics of "Springsteen", Leah's favorite song, came out as her ringtone.

"Hey, Bella." He greeted, using his favorite nickname, Italian for "beauty."

"Please tell me you'll be home by tomorrow!" Leah said off the bat.

"Yeah, we just got in the air. Why? Are you okay?" The entire team turned concerned eyes onto him at that line.

"For today. But Dr. Perry called. She didn't like the last ultrasound. She wants to take the babies."

"We've all ready told her no abortion." Spencer groaned.

"Not like that. She wants to do the surgery tomorrow."

"What!" Spencer sat straight up, all thoughts of sleep forgotten.

"I'm 31 weeks along. There's no lesser or greater possibility that they survive now than any other day. We knew it was coming up pretty close any way."

"But – Tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Leah released the word along with a breath. "Spencer, I- Come home. I need you right now."

"I'm on my way, Bella. I promise I'll be there as soon as is humanly possible. I'll even pawn my files off on someone else for a change."

As he had intended, her mood lightened. "Thank you, Spencer. Do you think you could tell the team?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks, babe. I'll see you when you get here."

"Hey, where are you? I thought I heard somebody else there"

"Penelope came straight here once she was released from the bat cave. She brought the kids too. That is, she brought Sailor, Rich, and Declan. Caleb all ready got Danny and Henry, and Jack is on a play date with them. Anyway, bye."

"I'll see you in a couple of hours, and hey, I love you."

"I love you too, Spencer."

They hung up and he put his head in his hands.

"Spence," JJ slid into the seat beside him, laying a hand on his arm. "Is everything okay? What's wrong?"

"Everything is fine, I guess, it's just Dr. Perry decided that tomorrow,"…


	5. Chapter 5

August 9, 2012

Jason Gideon looked around the waiting room at the many faces, marveling at how many were there to support Leah. Both Hotchner's team and the CAC team were there. Strauss had even made an appearance and had yet to leave, even though she was supposedly "just checking in". Knowing that her daughter was facing a life-or-death experience, Emily had found the courage somewhere to tell Ambassador Prentiss about Leah. So she, too, had come for the occasion. John Cooley also sat with them. Seventeen people in all now, since Jessica had recently come and take the kids home with her.

Jason did a double-take when he looked at Emily. She had bitten her nails down to the quick and her fingers were bleeding. Morgan, Hotch, Dr. Cooley and Elle were pacing. Spencer hadn't turned a page in his book for a solid half hour. Garcia was numbly scrolling up and down on her computer screen and Caleb was doing the same thing while JJ rested her head against her husband's shoulder. Even Katie, Strauss, and the ambassador had abandoned the work-related activities that they had brought. The others slept fitfully, or at least tried to.

Jason caught Anderson's eye. Jason motioned to the outline of a chess board painted on the table. "Do you want to play a game?" His voice startled everyone in the startled room.

"Oh, no." Anderson caught onto trying to cheer the others up. "I've given up on trying to beat you. Maybe Reid could though?"

Reid shook his head "no."

"Come on, Dr. Reid," Jason pestered. "Just one game. I'm board enough to go out of my mind."

Reid set aside his book with a heavy sigh and moved to the table along with Jason while Dr. Cooley found the checkers for them. The doctor set down the box of pieces and glanced at Emily. He chuckled in noiseless amusement. Then the doctor retrieved a Kleenex and handed it to Leah's mother.


	6. Chapter 6

"Here, Em, for your hands."

Emily looked up at him, and John was glad to see something a little like annoyance in her eyes. "Don't call me 'Em'. " She snapped, taking the Kleenex. She switched to Italian to say sharply, "You lost any right to familiarity with me a long time ago."

Dr. Reid and one of the other agents, Rossi, looked over at them. "I know you're worried." John murmured. "And – I really am sorry. For everything."

"Yeah? Well, you'll be a lot sorrier if Leah doesn't make it off the table."

"She's your daughter. She'll make it through just fine." John reassured, trying to ignore the pointed glare that Emily's irate fiancé, Agent Hotchner, was giving him.

Just then, one of the nurses, Judy, burst into the room.

"What's wrong?" John asked anxiously.

"Leah and the babies." Judy was panting from her dash to the waiting room.


	7. Chapter 7

Aaron felt terror flood through him as he noticed the nurse streaking towards them. He stopped pacing and was stone still, the same as all the others in the room.

"Leah and the babies," the woman panted. "Their all alive. We got them all safe and sound."

Morgan whooped, Emily burst into tears, and Reid looked ready to faint with relief. The entire group burst into spontaneous merriment, hugging, squealing (mostly from Garcia), and crying.

Aaron had just handed Emily another tissue, this one so she could dry her tears, when he noticed Dr. Cooley talking quietly, and very solemnly, with the nurse. He walked over to the two of them without drawing attention to himself as most of his anxiety returned. Reid followed closely behind him.

"Is something wrong?" Reid asked quietly.

"Leah is fine." Dr. Cooley assured him, understanding his concern for her. "One of the babies is doing worse then we had hoped they would be, though."

"Will the baby make it?" Aaron asked, as Emily slipped over to stand beside him. He wrapped an arm around her growing waist.

"I don't know." The nurse, Judy, answered honestly. "They're all stable for right now. It's pretty much out of our hands."

The others had begun to gather around them, sensing something was wrong. "When can we see Leah?" Reid asked.

"She's asking for Dr. Reid." Judy answered. "You can go in six at a time if you like. She'll be a little out of it though."

Reid nodded, looking around the room to see if anyone wanted to go with him.

"We'll give you two a minute by yourselves." Aaron told him. "I might make it quick though. Emily might kick the door in. I might."

Reid smiled a little and disappeared down the hallway.

"When will we be able to see the babies?" JJ asked.

"Not for a few days yet. They're in the NICU right now, but mostly just as a precaution."

"Can I go?" Dr. Cooley asked.

Judy rolled her eyes at him. "Sure you can go – home."

"I'm not leaving without seeing my daughter."

"Then quit trying to get me to play favorites and sit down like a good little boy. You won't want to tick Dr. Perry off when she comes in here. Scratch that. It's been a long day. She'll need you. I mean – your help."

Dr. Cooley made a face at the nurse as he rushed out of the room in the direction Reid had gone. Aaron looked at Emily for an explanation. She shrugged.

"They're news to me."


	8. Chapter 8

August 11, 2012

JJ pulled her hair back into a ponytail as she made her way to the nursery in Spence and Leah's house. Caleb strode ahead of her, while Prentiss and Garcia talked to each other about paint colors behind her. Hotch, Morgan, and Dr. Cooley were all ready in the nursery, putting together the six cribs that had yet to be assembled.

"Have you ladies decided on the color for the cribs?" Morgan asked when they entered.

"No idea." Prentiss answered.

"So…" Dr. Cooley said slowly. "You all three knew we were going to be painting today, but every one of you came anyway?"

"All three of us?" JJ asked.

"She wouldn't listen to me." Hotch told Leah's father, talking about Prentiss.

"Oh, I understand that."

"I tried," Morgan said of Garcia. "but I told her you wouldn't let her past the doorway once the paint cans were opened."

"You're right." Dr. Cooley said. "It's bad for all of your you-know-whats."

"Our what?" JJ asked. "I know Prentiss is pregnant."

"So are you." Caleb pointed out.

"What!" Garcia shrieked. "No way! This is too cool!"

"We're having twins, besides." Caleb confessed.

JJ laughed at her friend's exuberance. "Why is it 'too cool'?"

Morgan's mouth was getting closer and closer to the floor. "But … But … But."

"Me too!" Garcia squealed.

"You're pregnant?" JJ gasped.

Garcia nodded.

"With twins?" Prentiss asked.

"No! No, no, no. Just one."

"No paint fumes for you three." Hotch ordered. "And please, take the squealing into some other room. Actually, why don't you girls go buy the paint for the cribs while we finish putting them together."

"We would," Prentiss said slowly, talking to him as if he were mentally slow. "but we don't know what colors to use."

"Hey," an idea came to JJ. "Wait a second. I'll be right back." She darted down the stairs and back as quickly as she could, grabbing the piece of paper she'd noticed on the refrigerator coming in. "There are seven kids and seven colors in a rainbow. How about a different color for each crib?"

They agreed and the girls disappeared, heading in the direction of the nearest hardware store.


	9. Chapter 9

John wiped his hands on his jeans, trying in vain to get some of the paint off of them. He picked up the drawing of a rainbow that Agent Jareau had brought into the room, looking at the writing on it.

"Are we done with the paint?" Caleb Curtis asked, ready to reseal the cans and be done with the project.

"Hold on a minute." John said, inspiration striking. "What if we painted one of these on the wall?" He held up the drawing.

Agent Morgan shrugged and Caleb nodded. Agent Hotchner added, "Maybe we could write the baby names on the stripes. You know what they are, right?"

"No." John answered, picking a paintbrush back up. "Nan won't tell me any of them. She says she'd be breaking patient confidentiality."

Agent Hotchner scoffed as he dipped his brush back into the bucket of paint called "clown-nose red". "Really?"

"Yep. Right now, they're still babies 1-7."

Agent Hotchner shook his head. "I think your daughter likes having something to hang over our heads."

"That part of her is Emily's."

 


	10. Chapter 10

That evening, Spencer stumbled home from the hospital, exhausted but encouraged. The doctor's had gotten each of his children stable, and for now all looked well. Leah was still at the hospital with them though. As he drug himself down the hall toward his bedroom, he stopped outside the door of the nursery. It smelled like paint.

He pushed open the door and looked around, slightly in awe of what he saw. Each and every crib was up and painted a different color. They were lined up against one wall in the same color sequence as a rainbow. He turned slowly around, noticing the rainbow painted on the opposite wall for the first time.

It was missing something though, and he knew exactly what it was. He dashed out, retrieved a calligraphy brush and can of black paint, and went back to stand in front of the rainbow. Then he wrote, one in each stripe, the names of his children.

Leah would love this.


	11. Chapter 11

September 1, 2012

If she hadn't been so tired, Leah would have been bouncing off the walls. For the first time ever, all of her children were out of the hospital. On top of that, Rossi had made a huge gesture, and invited everyone who had been in the waiting room for her when the babies were born, out to his mansion for a barbecue. Barbecue courtesy of Morgan and Caleb. What this meant for Leah was that they would finally tell the names of the babies.

People flocked to their van when Spencer and Leah arrived at Rossi's. Leah couldn't help but laugh as Hotch and Rossi babbled to a couple of them. It was amazing what the sight of a baby could get a person to do.

After dinner, Garcia demanded, "I must know baby names."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Leah's mother encouraged. "I'm so tired of saying 'baby two' or 'baby five'."

"The poor things are going to start thinking that those are their names." Elle added.

"You're right." Leah agreed. She took the oldest from Spencer and cradled her for a minute while she said, "A couple of them could be named after more than one person, but I'm not telling you who and neither is Spencer. Little one here is a good example. This," she handed the dark-haired baby girl to her mother. "Is Emilia Aeryn Reid."

Strauss' mouth dropped open. Leah knew she saw tears in her mother's eyes, and she thought, maybe, in Hotch's.

Spencer took the second one, a dark-haired boy and gave him to Gideon. "This is Gideon Ross." The eyes of both of the older profilers bugged out a little.

Leah took the third, a girl with reddish hair, and handed him to her father. "This is Johanna Kaylee." She looked at Curtis. "It was the closest we could find to 'Caleb'.

Spencer gave the middle one who had fought so hard to live, a blonde boy, to Katie Cole, introducing him as Ashton Cole Reid.

Leah handed the fifth, a blonde girl, to a bouncing Garcia telling her and JJ the baby's name was Nellie Jennae.

Spencer handed the last boy, who had black hair, to Jordan Todd, announcing that his name was Ricky Todd, and telling Morgan not to turn his kid into a player.

Leah took the youngest, a fourth girl, this one also with reddish hair, and handed her to Ambassador Prentiss, saying her name was Andi Elisabeth, "and yes, that could be after Elle too."

"Welcome to your big crazy family kiddos." Leah murmured, watching Jack carefully kiss Emilia, now in Hotch's arms, on the head.


End file.
